Tag: the Cross

pressing in for mercy

Karla Lees

This morning I responded snappily to an ongoing stressful situation.  I didn’t pay attention the reminder which flashed into my mind to just listen, but instead instantly reacted.

Again.

As someone who believes how we use our words can bring life, I am likely harder on myself all the more because I know better & know He desires for me to live His Words.

But You delight in showing mercy,
and mercy triumphs over judgment.

When I get overwhelmed at times, I forget to:
stop.
pause.
breathe.
pray.
listen.
wait.
then speak.

When I fail & speak sarcastically, with hurtful words, I become undone once i take a second to process what i have just done, knowing I may have wounded someone I care for.

But You delight in showing mercy,
and mercy triumphs over judgment.

You whisper loving words to invite me back to Your embrace, into Your Stronghold of safety where I can come & be washed clean of the stain of my sinful words.

My past embraced
My sin forgiven
I’m blameless in Your sight
My history rewritten

When I bring all of me before You, You are quite well aware of each of the wrong doings, flaws & gaps existing within me, alongside the gifts You are awakening.

You embrace me anyways.

There will never be a day
You’re uncertain
of the ones You choose

You know me & chose me long before I even came to be.

There is no surprise to You of what I am like, for Your Holy Spirit indwelling me means You are constantly aware of what is going on within me.

You are personally invested in me. Your Beloved.

And once You clean me up & lift me back up again, all i desire to do is spend my life celebrating You. You love me so You even took the judgment upon Yourself so I would no longer carry it.

So I will awake
and spend my days
Loving the One who has raised me up
From death to life
From wrong to right
You’re making all things beautiful

Even me.

Mercy found me but didn’t leave me there.

He helps me move beyond what I believe is possible into the expanse of His possibilities…all things are possible for the endless God who sticks with me through all my days.

You delight in showing mercy
and Mercy triumphs over judgment.

PS. The quoted text today are the lyrics from the one song that whammied over the head & grabbed my heart’s attention Monday night.  The song is Mercy, by Amanda Cook, of Bethel Music, on her yet to be released CD BraveNewWorld. A definite must hear for those of you, who like me, struggle to receive the costly but precious gift of mercy God offers us all.

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community matters

Karla Lees

Today, I am taking a day off from writing.

I am spending some time allowing my sprained wrist to recover, but also listening to where the Spirit wants me to write next.

Easter hit me with a different impact this year, and I want to soak in the lessons I ahve learns, and make them part of me before moving on.

But because YOU matter, I am posting about community.

How unity is such a part of God’s heart for His people.

Because He himself dies to bring us back to Him, to be reUNITED with Him.

To become one with Him, through him, in Him.

You can read this post in its entirety at my church’s blog:

http://auroracornerstone.ca/blog

bindustogether

 

Sunday Psalm: Your Love ran red into eternity

Karla Lees

You did it.

You planned it all,
down to every single interaction from beginning to end.

You knew in the first Garden
that the second would come into play, leading You to the third & final garden.

In the first, we broke Your heart.
In the second, You bent the knee.
In the third, You broke the chains.

Eden,
Gethsemene,
Golgatha.

The fragile EGG over time You knew would need to be cracked
broken before it could be restored.

You did it.

Beyond our full understanding,
You rose from the grave
You lay in after the beating of the cross.
You rose to the fullness of life.

For You are the Living Word.
What You speak, comes to pass!
What You break, only You can rebuild.
What You love, is loved forever.

When You revealed Yourself to Mary, You lifted her to see Your face.
When You revealed Yourself to Peter, John & Thomas, You let them touch You.

Whenever You reveal Yourself, hope enters the room or situation.

Hear the bells ringing?
They are singing You have risen from the dead!

And You have not stopped bringing the dead to life ever since!

Your Love could not be contained by the earth or the enemy.

The love that ran red
ran deeper than any could know.

It ran right into eternity!

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#snapshotsalongtheWay
#HeisRisen

snapshots along the way: inbetween

Karla Lees

In between the tomb and the reveal was time.

Time spent in flustered confusion.
Waterworks of weeping.
Loud lamenting.
Deep sorrow.
Grief.

Not only over the One nailed to the tree, but also for their betraying brother who ended his life distraught over his part in harming the One they all loved.

They lost Judas too.

They didn’t yet get that Jesus wasn’t lost forever.

The big question everyone was either speaking about loud or in the forefront of their minds:
“Why?”

If Jesus was who He said He was, why did it have to go down that way?

Why the anguish, the suffering of Jesus? 

Why did the people turn on Him, after all He did for them?

Why did Jesus speak about remembering Him, and the temple being restored after 3 days?

Why is all this happening, God?

Why didn’t I pay closer attention to Him while He was still with us?

Not that much has changed in 2000 years, has it?

If you are being honest too, we all hate to wait. Being stuck in that inbetween, that ‘limbo’ holding space between actions. Waiting for what we cannot always know is coming. Waiting with wavering faith, shed tears, shattered dreams.

Jesus can relate.

I believe He took that time, not necessarily because He had to but to show us He understands the tension in between, coz He’s been there.

His whole life on earth was just such a tension. Fully man & Fully God, waiting for His big reveal.

We have a Savior who has lived through all that humanity has to offer us here on earth. 

He can relate.

Coz He has been there.

Instead of reminding us of what is about to come, we need to wait.

Remember the tension between reality and what we hope for yet to come.

And wait….

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snapshots along the Way: He Knew

Karla Lees

You knew.

You knew that the same people who cried Hosanna as You entered Jerusalem were the same ones who would pick up the stones to judge one another’s sin, and nail You to the cross.

You knew.

You knew we all hide our brokenness under the cover of what we think others want us to be and the pain, shame and agony of holding in our sin & the sin done to us could not be set free any other way.

You knew.

You knew this before You came.
God with us.
Yet You came anyway.

You knew this & kept it in the forefront of Your thought as You helped landscape the earth, design the canopy of stars & planets in the skies above, fashion the depths of the ocean floors, hang the sun and moon in place and set the seasons on their annual rotation.

You knew.

You knew the man and woman You fashioned with such care and love would stray and break Your heart, and let sin enter us all, yet You went ahead with Your plan anyways.

Because You knew Your bride would be worth it.

Honestly God, there are times I don’t get it. Like Hosea, I struggle with the love You ask me to show, yet I know You love me so deeply and permanently, despite all I do.

You know.

You know me better than i know myself.

You know all of us this way.

And because of this love, hearing the inner cry of the broken we all cry within the secret places we keep hidden, You chose to come and be one of us.

To show us how depending 100% on Abba can make a difference in how we can live our lives.

To show us just how far Love will go to show the one He loves the enormity of His affection & longing.

To show us we never have to be alone again.

As we head along the journey once again towards the cross, may we take the time to admit we are the reason He had to head there.

We needed to see His love in action in order to get, to grasp, just how much He loves us.

He knew.

#snapshotsalongtheWay
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